Frasers Property Australia commits to ambitious ‘zero carbon’ targets

Important benchmark in the company’s commitment to be a carbon neutral business

AUSTRALIA, 3 JUNE 2019

Frasers Property Australia’s greenhouse gas emission reduction targets have been approved by the Science-Based Targets partnership. Frasers Property is now the fourth Australian organisation, and the second in the Australian property sector, to have its ambitious targets approved by the global initiative.

The Science-Based Targets initiative is a not-for-profit partnership between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, the World Resources Institute and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

The targets adopted by companies are considered “science-based” if they are in line with what the latest climate science says is necessary to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Under the approved targets, Frasers Property has committed to reduce its scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 50% per square metre, and its scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions by 25% per square metre, by 2028.

Scope 1 and 2 emissions refer to greenhouse gas emissions which are directly owned or controlled by Frasers Property, including the operation of assets and the generation of purchased electricity.

Scope 3 emissions refer to those that occur in the value chain, including through a customer’s use of the asset, such as a tenant or purchaser.

The targets relate to all asset sectors Frasers Property works in, including residential, commercial, industrial and retail properties.

Last year, Frasers Property became a founding signatory to the first global Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment, meaning every new building it creates must operate at net zero carbon from 2030, and all its existing buildings must operate at net zero carbon by 2050.

For Frasers Property, science-based targets represent an important benchmarking exercise supporting the company’s commitment to becoming a carbon neutral business.

“We’ve committed our business to a zero carbon future, and we’ve sought third party validation of our targets from Science Based Targets to provide our clients, peers and partners with the assurance that we mean what we say.

“As the creators of property assets, we recognise that we have a critical role to play in limiting global warming and tackling climate change. Setting ambitious and considered emissions reduction targets provide a platform of self-discipline from which we can make future decisions across our business.

“Importantly, the achievement of our science-based targets requires a commitment to work with our customers – be they residents, tenants or the purchasers of the assets we create – to ensure those assets are used in the way they’ve been designed and built to perform.

“This is a fundamental change in the way we do business. Achieving net zero carbon in operation means taking on a greater life cycle responsibility for the assets we create,” Ms McCutchion says.

WWF-Australia CEO Dermot O’Gorman says Frasers Property Australia’s leadership demonstrates once again that big business can play a lead role in helping Australia deliver ambitious targets to reduce Australia’s emissions.

“As one of Australia’s largest diversified property owners and managers, Frasers Property is taking a significant step ahead of other companies to make a public commitment to do its fair share to keep global warming far below 2 degrees Celsius consistent with the commitments under the Paris Agreement,” says Mr O’Gorman.

“Given the unprecedented heat waves and drought conditions across most of Australia last summer, it is imperative that governments and corporations take urgent action to keep warming at no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius. We are already at 1 degree Celsius of warming and climate disruption is only going to get worse if we don’t act quickly,” he says.